Armor-plate.



H. SAVAGE.

ARMOR PLATE.

APPLICATION FILED FEELS, 1909.

1,013,070, Patented Dec.26, 1911.

J-QVJWQ 1 W ATTOFIYAEYIS UNITED STATES PATENT oEEicE. f

HUGH SAVAGE, 0F SERAING, BELGIUM.

ARMOR-PLATE.

Application filed February 6, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUGH SAVAGE, a subject of the Kingdom of GreatBritain and Ireland, residing at Seraing, in the Kingdom of Belgium,engineer, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inArmor-Plates, of which the following is a specification.

The modern armor plates provided with a cemented face constructedaccording to the Krupp or Harvey systems, can only be attacked,successfully, by means of projectiles provided with a cap.

Now, this invention has for its object to give to armor plates foriron-clad purposes such an arrangement as will permit of said platesresisting the attacks of projectiles provided with a cap.

\Vith this object in view, the plate is formed, as shown in theaccompanying drawing, with two superposed plates 1 and 2, havingtogether the thickness which would be given to a single plate having ahardened face, in view of the resistance to the penetration which it isdesired to obtain.

The principal plate 1, has from seven to eight-tenths of the totalthickness; it has a face 3, hardened according to well known methods. Onthis principal plate is set the second and thinner plate 2, having fromtwo to three-tenths of the total thickness. This second plate (coveringplate) may have a hardened face, or it may even be entirely of hardsteel. It must be of sufficient rigidity to neither give way lengthwiseunder the shock of the projectile, nor be driven in taking the contourof the latter. The success of the capped projectiles must be attributedto the support afforded by the cap to all the parts of the point of theprojectile, thus preventing the point from being crushed or split underthe shock against a hard plate, as is the case for ordinary projectileshaving a non-protected point. Another accessory effect of the cap is toproduce some superficial defacement of the plate, which thus loses atthe attacked point its hardest outer layer and then lets itself beeasily penetrated by the head of the projectile kept unimpaired by meansof the cap. Experience shows that the cap never accompanies theprojectile into the perforation made in the plate, but is completelyseparated from the same after the first shock.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 26, 1911. Serial No. 476,362.

In the arrangement according to this invention, the frontor coveringplate is of suliicient thickness to rid the projectile of its cap, andis of such hardness that it does not become molded under the force ofthe projectile (which would amount to the constitution of a second capspread over the whole surface of the plate). The point of ihe projectilethus finds itself brought without any support in front of a secondundamaged hardened surface, and is unable to exercise on the latter anyother than the ordinary effect of a projectile unprovided with a cap.

In the assembling of the two plates it is preferable to avoid the use ofeither bolts or screws, as the places occupied by the same wouldconstitute so many weak points. Therefore the assembling of the twoplates is effected by fitting the one in the other in the manner shownin the accompanying drawing. The contacting faces of both plates areprovided with grooves 4 and with projections 5, joined together bycurved surfaces. In order to secure a certain flexibility of theassembled plates and to facilitate the assembling, the contacts at 6, 6are reduced to a minimum of surface and may even become simply linear.The gaps left between the two plates may be filled up by soft metal 7,fusible at a low temperature in order not to soften the surfaces of theplates. This filling with metal will also serve to transmit the shocksin a lateral direction and to prevent the splitting of the projectionsof the plates.

The assembling shown is simply given by way of example and does notexclude the use of other fastening systems.

Claims.

1. Armor plate to stop capped projectiles, comprising two closelysuperposed plates of hard steel having tongue and groove connection, theouter plate being approximately one third the thickness of the innerplate and having a hardness adapted to stop the cap and cause the pointof the projectile to perforate the said outer plate, and the inner platehaving a hardness adapted to break the uncapped point of the projectile,substantially as described.

2. Armor plate comprising two plates of hard steel superposed anddovetailed together, the lateral faces of the ribs and grooves of thedovetails having 8 shaped profiles which touch each other in theirmiddle and move away from each other high temperature filling the spacesbetween 10 at their curved parts, substantially as dethe said faces.scribed. In testimony, that I claim the foregoing 3. Armor platecomprising two juxtaas my invention, I have signed my name in posedsteel plates having projections and presence of two subscribingWitnesses. grooves substantially dovetailed together, HUGH SAVAGE. thelateral faces of the said projections and Witnesses: grooves beingsomewhat separated one from CECIL FENToN, another, and a metal meltingat not a very COUPANT DAUS.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

